A Special Year

By Brian Rush, CPA

It is a privilege to serve as your chapter president for this special year, the 100th anniversary of the founding of CalCPA! The events planned at the state and chapter levels will help us reflect on the strength and integrity of our profession, as well as the opportunities and challenges we have before us. Our chapter leadership joins me in congratulating every member for the contributions they make every day in furthering the profession’s goals and objectives.

I have selected two particular goals for this year and I encourage you to consider participating in either or both.

First, I believe financial literacy is an important area in which CPAs can provide leadership and expertise. To support this, I plan to establish a speakers bureau comprised of willing and interested CPAs who can discuss money-related issues with educational, community and other citizen groups. There are many prepared presentations on a variety of topics that require only the knowledge you already possess to provide an audience with solid information and a basis for learning more. We will match the speakers with opportunities as they arise. No one will be expected to give more of their time than they can afford. As this effort gains momentum and stability, we will provide additional information and ask for your specific help. I look forward to a warm response to this program. If you have an interest in this area, please respond to this message via the “Leave a Comment” link at the end of this message.

Second, we have a need to strengthen the pipeline for chapter leadership. Having served the chapter for more than eight years, I can say I have gotten more out of my service than I have given. I would like to start a program whereby we introduce associate board members to chapter meetings and events so they have an opportunity to see how things work and provide input for improvements. The chapter would provide a mentor for each associate, probably two members in the first year. The associate would be asked to attend three or four meetings and events over the year based on their interests and availability. In succeeding years, if they have sufficient interest in serving on the board, they would be natural candidates. If they find that there is no interest, they will not have invested too much time. If you think this might be of interest to you or to someone you know, please drop me a line and we will arrange a meeting. This is a very effective way to give something back to the profession and have some fun.

I want to express my thanks to the officers and directors who have contributed so much to the chapter this past year. Monica Rebella, outgoing president, did a sensational job keeping us focused on our mutual goals. She will continue serving as immediate past president. Jeff Lenning will move from treasurer to first vice president and run the Fall Seminar Series. Jeff made a significant contribution last year and will continue to do so this year. Donita Joseph, who is leaving the board, served it well as secretary. Thanks to her for all her hard work in recording our discussions. Thanks too to all the directors, many of whom will be returning. Special note is given to Sherry Radmore, chair of our membership interest group, and Gary Wilson and Jennifer McCasland who jointly put on the most successful Economic Forecast Breakfast event we have had in many years.

We could not have accomplished anything without the help and support of our program associate Nancy Wilson and our program director Gary Hammond. They deserve special thanks and appreciation for all they do in support of our chapter.

This year is special and I invite all of our members, and those who might be considering membership, to become included in our network. We have a lot of interesting activities planned and look forward to sharing the fun we have with new colleagues. Don’t hesitate to contact any of your board members for more information or to get involved.
— Brian Rush, CPA

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 11:55 am and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.